Combined illuminating and signal lamp



y 1941- E. HICKS- ET AL 2,241,066

COMBINED ILLUMI NATING AND SIGNAL LAMP FiledAug. 25, 1957 INVENTORS. EDWARD HICKS AND zrmmas L'SCHNAKENBERG' A TTORN Patented May 6, 1941 COMBINED ILLUMINATING AND SIGNAL LAMP Edward Hicks and Charles L. Schnakenberg,

Elmsford, N. Y.

Application August 25, 1937, Serial No. 160,764 13 Claims. (01. 240-73) This invention relates to combined illuminating and signal lamps and has for one of its principal objects to provide an illuminating devicewhich will throw light suitable for illuminating purposes in a given direction, and which will also produce an illuminated signal of another color which may be observable in other directions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a street lamp for properly illuminating the street, while at the same time a portion of the lamp acts as a signal to designate the position of a fire alarm box, police station, or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel means of separating the signal and illuminating functions of a combined street light and signal light so that the two will be distinct from each other and not likely to be confused.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a combined signal and street light in which the rays of light for the signal have a different color from those used for illumination only, but are maintained independent so that they do not interfere with each other.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lamp shade which may be used to attain the object already mentioned.

Other objects of the invention and objects relating especially to the construction and assembly of the various parts of the lamp will be apparent as the description of the invention proceeds.

The invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational View, partly in section, of a street lamp embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational View, partly in section,

of a modified form of the invention.

Referring now more specifically to the drawing, the combined street and signal lamp Ill, shown in Fig. 1, may comprise an electric light bulb II which may be mounted in an electric light socket l2 of conventional design. The socket maybe suspended by means of the bracket l3 from a pole M or other support, whereby the lamp is positioned over a street or road l5, following the usual practice for street illumination.

A shade 16 formed of glass or other suitable material and having any desired configuration may be positioned around the bulb H and secured to the bracket l3 in any desired manner, as by a plurality of screws H which may be threaded in opposed relation in a rim l8 attached to the bracket and which may engage an annular groove [9 formed in the upper rim of the shade. Any other well known arrangement for attaching electric light globes to their fixtures may be used.

The shade I6 is preferably provided with a length greater than the axial length of the bulb so that the lower edge of the shade extends down below the lowermost portion of the bulb, and the bulb itself can therefore not be seen except from a point immediately below the lamp. The angle at which the illuminating rays of light will pass out of the lamp will be dependent upon this difference in the length of the shade and bulb and also the difference in diameters of the shade and bulb, as will be readily seen, The arrangement of these parts may preferably be such that both sides of the street or road are illuminated by the light from the bulb, while a corresponding dis-' tance lengthwise of the street is also lighted. Thus a street lamp is provided which fulfills all the requirements of such a device and adequately illuminates the street above which it is positioned.

It is the usual practice in towns and cities which have regularly established fire departments to locate the fire alarm boxes at spaced intervals along the streets and to identify the position of these fire alarm boxes by means of colored lamps which are lighted at night and may be seen from a considerable distance and which may be seen in the day time by virtue of the color of the globe. This colored globe is usually somewhat larger than the bulb itself so that it provides a larger surface for observation. In addition to these signal lights regular street lights are provided for the purpose of illuminating the streets. Inasmuch as it may be necessary to have a fire alarm box at the same corner where a street light is positioned, the practice has been to have two lights, one for the street illumination and one for the fire alarm box. It is one of the specific objects of this invention to provide a combined illuminating light and signal light so as to eliminate one of the aforementioned lights but still retain all the functions of both.

In order to provide the signalling function for the lamp we preferably form the shade of two or more laminations 20 and 2| which may be fused together or otherwise positioned in juxtaposition to each other. The inner lamination 20 we preferably form of translucent white material so as to reflect a large part of the light downwardly upon the street l5, while an outer lamination 2! of the shade we preferably form of translucent material of the desired color, such as green, orange, or red.

In operation the white light from the lamp bulb falls directly upon the street IS, the angle of illumination being determined by the edge of the shade with respect to the light bulb. Also light translucent, and the rays emitted from the outer lamination 2| of the shade are colored in accordnifying the presence of the fire alarm box M It is preferable that the bulb 'does not' extend below the lower edge of the colored portion ofthe shade so that it can not be seen from a distance, as the brightness of the bulb itself, by contrast with the light passing through the colored part of the shade might detractfrom-the effectiveness of the signal. we can still further separate the two functions of the lamp by' providing an opaque band 22 around'th'e lower edge of the shade of Fig. 1. This band may have a width of about an inch and maybe made of any suitable opaque material. As shown in Fig. 1, the band is made of thin metal and is cemented upon the lower edge of the glass; A turned-in rim 23 at the lower edge of the band covers the lower edge of the shade and thus acts as a protection against cracking or chipping at this point. From a distance the colored upper portion of the shade stands out distinctly above the band 22 which appears to be black. And the light thrown down upon the street is in no way reduced by the opaque band, but may even be increased by its use.

In some cases itmay be desirable to completely enclose the bulb to protect it from the weather, or for other reasons,v and in this case the arrangement of Fig. 2 may be used. Here a globe may be spherical in shape, orhave some other configuration which completely encloses the bulb 25, the latter being supported in the socket 26 and, suspended from the bracket 27, similarly to the construction of Fig. 1. Suitable means, as, for instance, the fixture 28 with globe engagingscrews 29, mayalso be used to support the globe. In this case, however, the upper portion of the globe may be provided with the two translucent laminations 3d and 3!,the inner one 39 being white and the outer one 3! being colored, while the lower portion 32 of the globe, which may be fused to the other two, may be clear glass so-that the rays from the bulb will pass through it without. diffusion. The colored portion of the globe may extend down to the same point defined by the lower edge of the shade of Fig. 1. An observer at a distance, therefore, will see only the upper part of the globe which will appear colored tohim, having the color of the outer lamination 3!, the colorless lower portion 32 being nearly invisible.

- An opaque band 33 may also be used with this construction. The band may be of metal, similar to that shown in Fig. 1, or it may be merely painted upon the surface of the glass with black or. other opaque paint.

Although the lamps of Figs. 1 and 2 are shown adapted to throw light forilluminating purposes downwardly, as upon a street or road, both of these lamps may be inverted where it is desirable to illuminate the space above the lamp. In such a case, the colored portion of the shade acts in exactly the same manner as already described,

We have found that ance with the color of that lamination, thus sigto give the desired signal from all points except those receiving the direct rays of the lamp.

From the above it will be seen that we have provided a novel combination illuminating lamp and signal lamp which is particularly adapted for use in street lighting and by means of which an additional lamp for the purpose of designating the location of a fire alarm box may be eliminated. The arrangement is simple, easily manufactured, and the addition of the metal band at the lower edge of the construction of Fig. 1 provides a protection for the shade which increases the life thereof. Many modifications may be made in the arrangements shown without departing from the spirit of the invention, and we do not wish, therefore, to limit ourselves to the structures shown and described except by the limitations included in the appended claims.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A combined illuminating and signal lamp comprising a shade, a light source within said shade, said shade being so formed that light may freely pass out of said shade in a predetermined cone of direct light rays, means to redirect within said predetermined cone a portion of the light from said source which strikes the inner wall of said shade, means forming a part of said shade for coloring the light passing through the walls of said shade outside of said cone without coloring the light passing from said shade within said cone.

2. A combined illuminating and signal lamp comprising a shade, a light source within said shade, said shade being so constructed that light may freely pass out of said shade in a predetermined cone, means to redirect within the same predetermined cone a portion of the light from said source falling on the inner wall of said shade, means forming part of said shade to color light rays emitted therefrom outside of said cone, means to distinctly separate the zone of colored light from the zone of said direct rays, and means to prevent said colored light and said unoolored light from being simultaneously observable from the same remote point.

3. A combined illuminating and signal lamp comprising a dish-shaped shade, means to secure saidshade to a support with the open side of said shade away from said support, a light source, means to position said light source within said shade, said light source being small enough so that the outer end thereof terminates inside of a plane through the outer edge of said shade, whereby said outer edge of said shade defines a cone of direct light rays emanating from said source, said shade being formed of an inner lamination of translucent white material and an outer lamination of translucent colored material. said colored material completely covering said white material so that said white material cannot be seen from remote points about the axis of said shade, and the configuration of said shade being such that rays of light reflected by said lamination of translucent white material will lie within said cone.

4. A combined illuminating and signal lamp comprising a dish-shaped shade formed of colored translucent material, a light source, means to support said light source within said shade, said light source being of such a size that the outer end thereof lies within a plane including the outer end of said shade, means on the inner surface of said shade to redirect out of the open end of said shade for illuminating purposes a portion of the rays of light falling thereon before they strike said colored translucent material, said colored translucent material completely covering said last mentioned means, and an opaque band around the outer end of said shade.

5. A combined illuminating and signal lamp comprising a relatively large envelope, a light source within said envelope and spaced from the walls thereof, said envelope having an annular translucent colored portion and a transparent portion, said light source lying between planes including the edges of said translucent portion, and means within said envelope to redirect through said transparent portion, part of the light directed solely towards the inner surface of said colored translucent portion before it reaches said colored portion.

6. A combined illuminating and signal lamp comprising a relatively large envelope, at light source within said envelope and spaced from the walls thereof, said envelope having an annular translucent colored portion and a transparent portion, said light source lying between planes including the edges of said annular translucent colored portion, means within said enve lope to redirect through said transparent portion, part of the light directly solely towards the inner surface of said annular translucent portion before it reaches said colored portion, and an opaque band at the edge of said annular portion adjacent said transparent portion.

7. A combined illuminating and signal lamp comprising a relatively large envelope, a light source within said envelope and spaced from the walls thereof, said envelope having .an annular white translucent portion and an axially displaced transparent portion, said light source lying between two planes including the edges of said translucent portion, and means to color all of the light passing through said translucent portion after it has passed therethrough.

8. A combined illuminating and signal lamp comprising a relatively large envelope, 2. light source within said envelope and spaced from the walls thereof, said envelope having an annular white translucent portion and an axially displaced transparent portion, said light source lying within two planes including the edges of said translucent portion, means to color all of the light passing through said translucent portion after it has passed therethrough, and an opaque band separating said translucent portion from said transparent portion.

9. A combined illuminating and signal lamp comprising a light source, means to define a cone of direct light rays emanating from said source, means to redirect within said cone some of the light emanating from said source in a direction outside of said cone, and means to color substantially all the light emanating from said source outside said cone which is not redirected by said light redirecting means.

10. A lamp mounted above a highway and adjacent an emergency signal device for illuminating said highway and indicating the presence of said device, comprising a light source, means to define a cone of light rays from said source directed downwardly towards said highway, substantially all of the rays within said cone striking said highway, and means for coloring light from said source directed outside said cone, whereby an area immediately adjacent said lamp is generally illuminated and the presence of said emergency signal device adjacent said lamp is indicated from remote points.

11. A lamp mounted above a highway and adjacent an emergency signal device for illuminating said highway and indicating the presence of said device, comprising a light source, a dished shade for said light source and so positioned with respect thereto that the open edge of said shade defines a cone of light rays from said source directed downwardly towards said highway, with substantially all of the rays within said cone striking said highway, and means to color the light passing through said shade, whereby an area immediately adjacent said lamp is generally illuminated and the presence of the emergency signal device adjacent said lamp is indicated from remote points.

12. A lamp mounted above a highway and adjacent an emergency signal device for illuminating said highway and indicating the presence of said device, comprising a light source, a housing for said source having a transparent lower portion which defines a cone of light rays directed downwardly towards said highway, substantially all of the rays Within said cone striking said highway, and a colored translucent portion for coloring rays passing therethrough, whereby an area immediately adjacent said lamp is generally illuminated and the presence of said emergency signal device adjacent said lamp is indicated from remote points.

13. A lamp mounted above a highway and adjacent an emergency signal device for illuminating said highway and indicating the presence of said device, comprising a light source, means to define a cone of light rays from said source directed towards said highway, with substantially all of the rays within said cone striking said highway, means for coloring light directed outside said cone, and an opaque band separating the rays in said cone from said colored rays, whereby an area immediately adjacent said lamp is generally illuminated and the presence of said emergency sign-a1 device adjacent said lamp is indicated from remote points.

EDWARD HICKS. CHARLES L. SCHNAKENBERG. 

